A Lucky Day
by Shire hobbit
Summary: Cousin Ernie's decided to pay the Ricardo's a visit, and Lucy invites him to dinner. Also, Ricky invites his new boss over.
1. Inviting Cousin Ernie

Disclaimer: I do not own the show 'I Love Lucy', or any of the characters **__**

Disclaimer: I do not own the show 'I Love Lucy', or any of the characters.

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Sunday morning: Ricky has a day off work today. The club where Ricky works has just gotten a new owner. The previous owner's last day had been Saturday, and the new owner hadn't planned on "starting" until Monday. So, everybody got a day off.

"So Ricky, what are you gonna' do today?" Lucy asked at breakfast. It's was 

about 10:00 a.m., and they were having half-cooked eggs, and burnt toast.

"Maybe I'll go out, and eat another breakfast."

"Oh Ricky, I'm not **that** bad of a cook," Lucy defended herself.

"You're not?" Ricky teased. "Then who cooked this?"

"Oh...! What ARE you doing today? I'll be gone most of the day shopping."

"Actually, me and Fred are going golfing."

"Oh, well that-- Ricky, you're not gonna' start spending **all** of your time golfing again, are you?"

Ricky chuckled, "No, just this afternoon."

"Well ... okay. Don't forget to drop Little Ricky off at Mrs. Trumbell's." Lucy cleared the table, then said. "I have to go now. Have fun golfing today, Dear."

"Okay. Lucy..."

"What?" Lucy asked.

"It won't hurt to come back **with** some money, you know. Don't spend it all."

"Yeah, well..." Lucy said, as she left the kitchen. Ricky followed her into the living room, and picked up the phone.

"Who're you calling?" Lucy asked curiously.

"Fred. I'm gonna' ask him what time he wants to leave."

"Oh. Well, good-bye Dear," Lucy said, then left.

"Hello ... Fred? This is Ricky ... Yeah, I was just wondering what time you wanted to leave ... 11:30? Sounds fine to me ... Alright, see you then."

Ricky hung up the phone, and went into the bedroom to play with Little Ricky.

-----

At about 3:00, Lucy and Ethel had picked up Little Ricky from Mrs. Trumbell's, and gave him something to play with in the bedroom. Now, they were walking from the bedroom to the living room.

"Lucy," Ethel said shaking her head. "I don't think I've ever seen you go shopping and not buy anything." 

Lucy sat down, shrugged and sighed, "I just didn't see anything that looked very appealing."

"Still..." Ethel sat down, too.

"Yeah, I know--" Lucy started. She was interrupted by a knock on the door.

She got up and opened the door. When she saw who was standing there, her eyes grew wide, "Ernie!?"

"Howdy Cousin Lucy!" Ernie said, as he walked past her and into the apartment, then he saw Ethel. "Howdy Cousin Ethel!"

"Ernie?!" Ethel said, surprised.

"Wh -- What are you doing here?" Lucy asked.

"I've come out here for a little trip," Ernie answered.

"Why?" Ethel asked.

"Well," Ernie started. "I just wanted to get away for a few days, so I thought I'd come out here and see you all."

"Oh, well Ernie," Lucy said. "You don't plan on staying **here**, do you?"

"No, I got me a hotel room. I'm only gonna' be here for tonight and tomorrow night, then I have to go back home. I promised Mama I wouldn't stay too long. Just give myself enough time to say Howdy."

"Oh," Lucy said. "That's so nice that you thought of us."

"Oh, well that's okay. I can't stay right now, I just came over to let you know I was in town. I still wanna' call Mama, and let her know that I'm here." Ernie said, then started to leave.

"Why didn't you call before you left the hotel?" Ethel asked.

"I did. But the phone kept goin' 'beep' 'beep' 'beep' at me. I asked a feller why, and he said the line was busy."

"Oh, well Ernie. Why don't you come over for dinner tonight? 5:00?" Lucy asked.

Ernie thought, then said, "Okay! I'll be here." Then he left.

"Lucy! Why did you invite him over?" Ethel asked.

"Well! I didn't wanna' be rude. Besides, it's only for one night, it's not like he's gonna' stay here."


	2. Telling Ricky

"Hi Lucy," Ricky said, while walking in the door about 3:30.

"Hello, Ricky," Lucy said, looking up from a magazine. "Did you enjoy your day?"

"Yep. You'll never guess who I ran into on the golf course," Ricky said, taking a seat on the couch.

"Who?"

"Mr. Jacobs."

"The new owner of the club?"

"Yeah, I invited him to dinner tonight. His daughter's coming, too. And please try to make it better than what we had for breakfast."

"Well, I'll **try**. Uh, Ricky, Mr. Jacobs isn't the only one who's coming for dinner. Someone stopped by today, and I invited him." Lucy said.

"Oh yeah?" Ricky asked, "Who is it?"

"Well... he's someone we haven't seen in a while," Lucy said.

"Okay, but who is it?"

"The Mertzes know him --"

"Who is it?"

"Well... it's... it's, uh..."

"Lucy..."

"Cousin Ernie?"

"Cousin Ernie?! What's he doin' here? He's gonna' make a bad impression in front of Mr. Jacobs."

"Now Ricky, you don't know that. Just be thankful he's not staying with us. He said he's got a hotel room. He's just coming over for dinner, and that's it! He said he came all the way out here, just to spend a few days with us, so what else could I do?"

Ricky nodded, and said angrily, "Okay. He can come. But if he gets out of hand, he leaves."

"Oh, Ricky!"

-----

At about 4:30, Ernie was walking around town, just looking around. He was trying to meet some people. Just passing time 'till 5. He said 'hi' to some people. Some had said 'hi' back - some had just ignored him. Then he saw a girl, and decided to try to talk to her. She had light brown eyes, and light brown hair that fell a little below her shoulder. She was carrying shopping bags and boxes from various stores. He walked up to her, "Howdy."

She looked at him, then smiled sweetly, "Well, hi there."

"Can I help ya' with some o' those?" he asked.

She shrugged, "Sure." Then she gave him a few boxes. "Do you live around here?" she asked. "'Cause I'm new in this town, and I need somebody to show me around."

He shook his head, "Nope. I'm just visitin'."

"Oh," she said, then she stopped by a parked car, "This is my car. Hold on and I'll get the trunk so you can put those things in." She set her bags down, and pulled out her key. He put everything in for her, she thanked him, then she left. He tried talking to a few more people, but finally he got bored, and decided to go to the Ricardo's.

-----

"Don't worry, Ricky. I'm not gonna' burn it. It's just about ready to take out, and when Ernie and Mr. Jacobs and his daughter get here, it will have cooled off just enough." Lucy said.

"Okay, but--"

Ricky was interrupted by someone knocking on the door.

"Now leave me alone Ricky, everything will be fine. Go get the door."

Ricky nodded and left.

Lucy cringed when she heard, "Howdy Cousin Ricky!"

__

Oh no, she thought.

Everything in the kitchen was all set, so she decided to go make sure the conversation between Ricky and Ernie was okay.

"Ernie!" she exclaimed. She looked up at the clock on the wall. "You're 15 minutes early."

"I know," Ernie said. "But I was out tryin' to meet people, and nobody seemed to wanna' meet me. So, I decided since it was almost 5:00, that I should just come on over!"

"Oh," said Ricky, sounding surprised. "And nobody wanted to talk to you."

"Well, this one girl did."

"Really," said Lucy happily, "What was her name?"

Ernie shrugged, "I don't know. She didn't tell me."

"Did you tell her **your** name?" Ricky asked.

Ernie shook his head, "No, I didn't think about it. You don't suppose that's why she didn't tell me hers, do you?"

"Could be--" Ricky started.

But Ernie interrupted him, "Cousin Lucy, are you cookin' somethin'?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fixing a roast for dinner."

"You lookin' to serve it black?" Ernie asked innocently.

"No, why-- Oh no!" Lucy said, then ran into the kitchen. When she came back she asked, "How 'bout we go out to dinner?"

"Lucy, you didn't." Ricky said.

"Ricky, I said I'd **try** to cook it good. I didn't say I'd be successful at it."

"Do we have anything that you can make in 15 minutes."

Lucy thought, then said, "Sure. We have some hamburgers."

"Oh, great. The guy buys a nightclub, and I'm gonna' serve him a hamburger. I'm sure he'll be impressed."

"Oh Ricky, calm down. You're getting upset for no reason at all!"

"Hey, you two. There's no need to start a fight." Ernie said.

"He's right Ricky," Lucy said. "We're just wasting time."

"Yeah, alright. But what if you burn the hamburgers. Then what?" Ricky asked.

"Well..." Lucy started. But she didn't know what to say.

"I'll cook 'em for ya'," Ernie offered.

Lucy and Ricky both stared at him. "You?" Ricky asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Ernie nodded.

"We could let him try Ricky. It wouldn't hurt anything." Lucy suggested.

Ricky nodded, "Okay. He can try. But back to my question, 'What do we do if they get burned?'"

"Let's not think about that unless we have to," Lucy said. Then she turned to Ernie, and pointed to the kitchen, "You know where everything is."

Ernie went into the kitchen, then Lucy told Ricky, "At least he couldn't do any worse than me."

"Well he better hurry, he's down to..." Ricky looked at the clock, "7 minutes."


	3. Plain and Simple

By the time Mr

By the time Mr. Jacobs and his daughter arrived, Lucy and Ricky had set up a table in the living room, set 5 places, and the food was already set out. When Ricky invited them in, Lucy and Ernie were already seated. Lucy could see them, but Ernie had his back to them.

"Hello Ricky," said Mr. Jacobs. "This is my daughter, Elise."

"Hello Mr. Jacobs. Hello Elise, it's nice to meet you," Ricky said. Once they were seated, he said, "this is my wife Lucy. And this is a friend of ours from Tennessee. He's just visiting."

Elise smiled at Ernie and said, "Hi there."

"Hey! You're the girl I talked to today!" Ernie said.

"Uh huh. That was me."

"Hamburgers?" Mr. Jacobs asked.

Ricky looked embarassed, "Yes sir."

Mr. Jacobs looked at Ricky approvingly, "Good. Usually when people invite me over for dinner, they like to serve something fancy. But really, I prefer it when it's simple."

Now Ricky looked surprised, "really?"

Mr. Jacobs nodded, "Yes, really."

Ricky looked over at Lucy and chuckled.

-----

That night, before crawling into bed, Ricky asked Lucy, "How is it, that, with you, every time something goes wrong, it ends up going right? I mean, you invited Ernie over to dinner, that was something that seemed to go wrong. But instead, it was right. Because now he'll be spending tomorrow with Elise instead of us. And Mr. Jacobs is happy. Everything turned out right, and it almost always does with you. How do you do it?"

Lucy shrugged, "I don't know. But you wouldn't have had to spend tomorrow with Ernie, 'cause you've gotta' work."

Ricky kissed Lucy, then said, "Maybe things don't always start out okay, but they almost always end up okay. Ya' know what?"

"What?"

He kissed her again, "I love you!"

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Okay, that's it – The End.

Please let me know what you thought!

Thanks ;o)


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